Blackout
by ReverseQueen
Summary: A little fluffy oneshot between Lina and Doon suring the City Of Ember. No extra characters, deaths, or complications because I like it short, simple, and sweet. Please read and tell me what you think!


**Blackout**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of Jeanne Duprau's settings, characters, or anything else related to her books. You know the drill.

**Author's Note: **This is my first oneshot, and I have relatively no experience with writing except from school, so please no harsh reviews. If you hate it, I'd rather that you spent your time telling me how I could improve my writing than telling me how terrible it is (which it very well may be…). I hope you like it!

**Oh, and before I forget, please, please, **_**PLEASE**_** click on the beautiful button with the green writing on at the bottom of the page…**

"Okay, Doon. I'll see you later." Lina had just risen from Doon's floor when the great lights of Ember flickered and suddenly went out.

This blackout was bad, even for Ember's standards, which were getting lower and lower every day. Lina halted just in front of the door, just about to leave from Doon's room, where he and Lina had been discussing the recent problems with the city's generator. Lina stood stock still, sheer terror making her shake. The fact that Doon was somewhere in the deep darkness made her feel a little bit better, though.

"Ladies and gentlemen" Doon said wryly from somewhere in the darkness. "Example number fifty-three, the sudden blackout. These happen as often as-" Lina couldn't contain her giggles, and she heard a muffled chuckle coming from Doon's bed, which she had been sitting beside only moments before.

"Be quiet, Doon. But keep talking so I can find you." Lina said, turning around and trying to find her way back to where Doon was in the inky blackness, and conjuring up fuzzy images of Doon's bedroom in her head so that she could find her way.

"How am I supposed to do that?" Doon asked, mock-incredulously from his bed. "Be quiet, but keep talking? That's physically impossible, Lina, you should know tha-" He was cut off by a shriek from Lina as she tumbled over a pile of old clothes unsuspectingly and landed on her bottom just in front of Doon, though she couldn't tell that at the time. A sharp pain exploded in her right ankle as she fell with a thump. She felt tears springing into her eyes at the pain and tried desperately not to cry.

"Doon, c-can you help me up please?" She said, quietly so that he wouldn't hear the extent of the pain in her voice. Unfortunately, he knew her so well that he could almost feel the pain.

"Lina, don't bother. Did you twist your ankle?" He asked, and Lina heard him shifting around the room, trying to find her, when she felt his leg bump into her thigh. She let out a small cry of pain as the impact hit her ankle. She felt arms awkwardly curling around the backs of her knees and underneath her back as he picked her up and gently set her down on a pile of cushions after shuffling around, trying to find a suitable place to put her. He sat down beside her, his hands gently fluttering over her body, checking for injury. When she felt his touch on her ankle, though her lips were pressed tightly together, she couldn't stop a small whimper from coming out of her mouth.

"So you did twist your ankle. If I'd known-" Lina cut him off.

"Oh, do be quiet, silly. You can't possibly expect to be able to predict the blackouts, can you?" She sighed, and flopped back onto the pillows, her neck hitting Doon's arm which had been resting behind her shoulders.

"Oh… sorry." She said, embarrassed, but Doon didn't move his arm.

"Stay still. This is comfortable." He said wearily, and paused slightly. "How long do you think this blackout will last?" Lina laughed quietly.

"I hope that that was a rhetorical question, Doon, because we both know that I have no idea." Lina said, mock-punching his arm. Doon gasped in fake hurt and started ruthlessly tickling her into behaving.

"Take that back, Lina Mayfleet!" He said, while she laughed and laughed and laughed. She couldn't remember the last time that she'd had so much fun.

"Never!" She wheezed through her giggles. Instead of giving in, he merely started tickling her more until she rolled into him, poking him in the chest to try and stop him tickling her. Both teenagers paused at their sudden closeness, and both felt something new in the air, so overpowering that they could almost taste it. Doon drew in a sharp breath and gulped audibly, feeling a wave of courage wash through him. Before this newfound bravery could desert him, he made up his mind.

"You know what, Lina?" He asked softly. Lina could feel her heart thumping.

"N-No." She said, her thoughts sucked into a whirlwind of speculations, feelings, and all-out turmoil. Doon steeled his nerves.

"These unexpected blackouts do have _some_ advantages." He said, and before his rational mind could kick in, he gently found her lips and pressed his to hers. Lina stayed still for a minute, but when Doon broke away, she instinctively grabbed his face and dragged it back down to hers. Before she kissed him, though, she did have something to say.

"Oh yeah, Doon? What advantages would you be talking about?" She asked softly, her lips curling into an involuntary smile. Doon had lost all fear when Lina had expressed that she wanted him, so he felt no reservations about giving her a completely illogical, irrelevant answer.

"These." He said, before firmly covering her lips with his own. Lina's body reacted in a way she didn't know it was programmed to; she reached up and rested one of her hands tenderly on his cheek, the other one of her hands wrapping around the back of his neck. Doon smiled against her lips and reached his arms around underneath her shoulders and clasped them behind her back pulling her closer so that her body was flush with his. Lina could feel each point of contact between them; they burned like the lights of Ember and sent pleasant shockwaves through her body.

Both were quite shocked when the lights of Ember came back on, and both were amused to see each other's appearances.

Lina's dark hair was everywhere; draped over Doon's chest, flopping over her face, and tangled in her jumper, which was hitched up at the waist, displaying a strip of soft, white skin. Her eyes were enormous, taking in both the situation at hand and the sudden light; her lips were bright red and her hands were interlaced in Doon's hair.

Doon's normally pale skin was flushed a faint pink, so that his freckles stood out like dark brown beacons. His hair (attractively adorned by Lina's hands) was sticking out in all directions, and his clothes were wrinkled and the collar of his shirt was undone, the collar half up, half down.

Both laughed slightly at the same time; both stopped at exactly the same time. Lina's eyes dropped to his open collar, and she pulled her hands out of his hair and pressed them to his chest, meaning to get up and fix her appearance, but before she could do anything, another blackout struck the city. Doon grinned in the darkness.

"You know, Lina." He said, as her lips found his once more, sending a delicious wave of warmth through both of them and making them both squirm with enjoyment. "These blackouts are getting _awfully_ convenient…"

And as they acquainted themselves; properly, this time, neither noticed nor cared at the great lights of Ember were lit once more.


End file.
